From 27-30 September, the 25th ENCATC Congress will gather together in Brussels, academics, researchers, professionals and representatives from various EU institutions, governments and European and international networks to discuss the key role of networks and develop ideas and proposals to guarantee their sustainability in a challenging environment.

Event Details

The celebration of the ENCATC 25th anniversary will offer participants the unique occasion to reflect on the evolution of the cultural management and policy discipline over the past 25 years. In addition to the main sessions, participants will have the opportunity to attend the ENCATC Research Award and the Fellowship Award Ceremony, the 8th Annual ENCATC Research Session, and the Global Conversations round table, as well as discover Brussels' rich cultural scene through a number of selected study visits.

Under the title, "Click, Connect and Collaborate! New directions in sustaining cultural networks", the 2017 ENCATC Congress will focus on the value of networks and their sustainability. What is the real value of cultural networks in today’s world of digitization and internationalisation? What can networks do for a diverse cultural sector and for the field of cultural management and policy? Why should institutions, organisations, and individuals have membership in cultural networks? How does the sustainability of cultural networks matter for the way we work, connect, and collaborate today and in the future? These are a sample of the questions that will be analyzed and debated by prominent academics and practitioners from all over the world.

This event has also the ambition to advance the state of art and promote new ideas and proposals on the major challenges faced by cultural networks today in Europe and beyond: governance, leadership, new business models, evaluation, and their internationalization.

The main objectives of the 2017 ENCATC Congress are to:

•gain knowledge about the role, the value and the sustainability of European and international networks

•advance the debate, develop new ideas and proposals on governance, leadership, new business models, evaluation and internationalization of networks

•provide a unique space for capacity building and peer learning for academics, emerging and experienced researchers, practitioners, policy makers and artists

•promote networking among academics, researchers, professionals and representatives from various EU institutions, governments and European and international networks

•contribute raising the level of knowledge on the key role played by cultural networks in the shaping of a sustainable cultural sector and the inclusion of culture and the arts in the long-term strategic goals of the European project

The congress is organised by ENCATC, the European network on cultural management and policy. The ENCATC Congress is held under the patronage of the Flemish UNESCO Commission. It is also co-funded from the Creative Europe programme. Culture Agora is a media partner.